The present invention is related to robotics and, more particularly, is related to sensing contact between an affector and an external object.
Robotic devices are regularly appearing in manufacturing operations where advantage can be taken of the improved precision and cost benefits from their use. In many robotic applications, an affector such as a tool is positioned in two dimensions with respect to a workpiece and then the affector is moved on a third axis into working relationship with the workpiece. Where the third axis dimension is either variable or contains errors, it has been difficult to determine the point at which travel in the third axis should cease.
Tactile sensing (a sense of touch) has been proposed for robotic devices, but the problems of accomplishing such sensing have not been satisfactorily solved.